Passion's Son
by sinclair36
Summary: So this is my take one the Harry Potter/ Percy Jackson crossover. Rating may go up, who knows.


**So, just like with my other story 'Harry Potter and the Eevee Stone', I show so many harry potter and Percy Jackson cross-overs that I just had to try my hand at one too. Same as before, if this is a challenge then I'm sorry I didn't let the owner of the challenge know I was going it. I'm almost positive this is a challenge somewhere, so if anyone knows then please let me know about it. Anyway, I don't own harry potter or Percy Jackson.**

 **Most of this chapter came straight from the book, with some minor changes and additions. So I'm gonna say this one more time… I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR PERCY JACKSON!**

 **Now… on with the Show!**

"Normal talking"

" _Snake talking"_

 _ **Gods' talking**_

 **GggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggG**

Harry knew that of all the stupid things he'd done in life, this was easy in the top ten. Maybe even top five. Here he was trying to get into the _Chamber of Secrets_ , all so he could save a girl he didn't even know! _The things you do for a friend…_ Harry thought as he sighed. Really the only reason he was trying this was because Ron Weasley was his friend and this Ginny girl was Ron's sister…. Well that and two other reasons. The main reason being that if something wasn't done about the madness that had been happening around Hogwarts soon; then the school would be shut down. There was no way in all of Heaven or Hell that Harry was going to let that happen. He liked spending most of the year away from his "family", and if the school closed then he'd lose that freedom. The other reason was more personal to him. Slythern's Monster had petrified Hermione and that was a crime Harry couldn't forgive or forget. Hermione was family in Harry's mind, real family. So the fact that a member of what little family he had was attacked, pissed Harry off more than the fact that he was risking his life doing something reckless again.

So now here he was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. His heart beating very fast from fear or anger he didn't know, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the Basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where the _hell_ was Ginny?

Harry pulled out his wand moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once Harry swore he saw one move.

Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: it was ancient and monkeyish, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small black-robed figure with flaming red hair.

"Ginny…" Harry muttered, as he sprinted to her and dropped to his knees. Without a second thought, he flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders and turned her over. Her face was white as marble and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified. But then she must be-

"Wake up. Please Ginny, wake up." Harry muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

"She won't wake." Said a soft voice.

A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him-

"Tom- Tom Riddle?" Harry wondered, now more than a little confused. Wasn't Riddle supposed to be in a diary? Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes of Harry's face.

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately, there was no way he was telling Ron that the girl was dead, that he failed to save her. "She's not- She's- not-?"

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."

Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood a weird misty light shining about him, not a day older then sixteen.

"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked hoping the older boy would say yes. The dark haired Gryffindor didn't think he could handle more strange and creepy things happening right now.

"A memory," Riddle spoke quietly. "Preserved in a dairy for fifty years."

He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black dairy Harry had found in moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it got there, but there were more pressing matters to deal with.

"you've got to help me, Tom." Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk…. I don't know where it is, but it could be here any moment…. Please, help me. "

Riddle didn't move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand again. But his wand was gone. Harry glanced around and couldn't find it.

"Did you see - "He looked up. Riddle was still watching him, twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers.

"Thanks." Harry said with a tiny smile as he held out his hand for it.

A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly.

"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. " _We have to go now!_ If the basilisk comes - "

"It won't come until it's called." Riddle interrupted calmly.

Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer. The young Gryffindor was getting a bad feeling in the back of his head the longer he talked to Riddle.

"what do you mean?" he said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it - "

Riddle's smile broadened. "You won't be needing it." He said.

Harry stared at the older boy. That bad feeling was getting worse, much worse. "What do you mean, I won't be -?"

"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," Riddle said as he cut Harry off. "For the chance to see you, to speak to you."

"Look." Harry said as he finally lost his patience with the older boy," I don't think you get it. We're in the _Chamber of Secrets_. We can talk later."

"We're going to talk now." Riddle grinned as he pocketed Harry's wand.

It was silent between them as Harry stared at the older boy. Slowly little pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place in Harry's mind. God, he wished Hermione was here. She would be able to figure it all out easily. "How did Ginny get like this?" Harry asked slowly as his eyes narrowed on Riddle.

"Well, that's an interesting question." Riddle said pleasantly, "and quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger." Harry said nothing, only glared harder at the memory.

"The diary." Riddle continued, still grinning. " _My_ diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. How her brothers _tease_ her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how - ", Riddle's eyes glinted, "How she didn't think famous, good great Harry Potter would _ever_ like her…"

In all the time that he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look to them. The look in those eyes made Harry's skin crawl.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl." Riddle went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply _loved_ me. _No one's ever understood me like, you Tom…. I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in…. it's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…."_ Riddle laughed a high pitched and cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up.

"If I do say so myself, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of _my_ secrets, to start pouring a little of _my_ soul back into _her_."

Suddenly all those puzzle pieces clicked into place and Harry finally understood, or at least he had an idea. "What do you mean?" he asked as his voice trembled slightly. Harry needed the memory to say it, to say what he was thinking. Only Harry hoped he was wrong, he hoped _to god_ that he was wrong.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

"Fuck…" Harry whispered. In this moment, he really hated being right.

"Indeed," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't _know_ what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries. Far more interesting, they became….. _Dear Tom_ ," He recited, watching Harry's horrified and angry face, " _I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and that I'm not myself. I think he suspects me…. there was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad…... I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!_ "

Harry's fisted were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms. The young Gryffindor didn't know whether he should feel pity or angry towards the youngest Weasley. Pity that she was taken advantage of so completely or pissed off that she didn't go to a _real_ person for help when she realized that something was going on. Harry understood that she didn't want to tell anyone that she might have been the one behind all the attacks, really he did. No one ever wants to admit to doing something wrong, but at the point that Ginny thought she was the one attacking people and _didn't_ tell someone, she became just as guilty as Riddle for the attacks. To Harry this meant that Ginny was responsible for what happened to Hermione and he hated the redhead for it, even if she didn't have a choice.

"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," Riddle continued on during Harry's internal debate. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where _you_ came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was _you_ , the very person I was most anxious to meet."

"Why did you want to meet me?" Harry growled out though locked teeth. As enraged as he was, it was an effort to keep his voice steady.

"Well you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry." Said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lighting scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf Hagrid, to gain your trust - "

"Hagrid's my friend," Harry interrupted, his voice shaking now. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but - "

Riddle laughed his high laugh again. The memory grinned cruelly at the Gryffindor. "It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. You can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet." Riddle raised his left hand as he spoke. "On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so _brave_ , school prefect, model student." He paused for a moment as his right hand started to rise. "On the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid. In trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf pups under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls. But I admit, even _I_ was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought _someone_ must have realized that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken _me_ five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance…. as though Hagrid had the brains or the power!"

Riddle's grin lost some of its strength as his eye seemed to look off into the distance. "Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed… Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teacher did…."

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Harry said with gritted teeth.

"Well, he kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled." Riddle sighed carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it." Harry declared with false triumph. the bad feeling was still there, making it hard to feel like it was a victory that no one had died…. yet. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was petrified will be all right again - "

"Haven't I already told you, "Riddle interrupted quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now my new target has been _you_?"

Harry stared at him. That bad feeling had just tripled and gone into overdrive.

A dark look covered Riddle's face as he looked over at Ginny's body. "Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery- particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…"

Riddle shrugged slightly as he turned his attention back to Harry. "So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her…. She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last. I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" Harry spat, his whole body tense and trembling slightly with rage.

"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "How is it that _you_ – a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent – managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did _you_ escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" there was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.

"Why do you care how I escaped?" Harry asked slowly. "Voldemort was after your time." Or at least he hoped so. Harry really hoped Riddle was before the time of the dark lord, but he didn't think his luck was that good.

"Voldemort…" Riddle spoke softly. "Is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter." He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"You see?" Riddle whispered with a fanatic tone to his voice. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my fithy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a fool, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry – I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Harry's brain seemed to have jammed. He stared numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to murder Harry's own parents and so many others. At last he forced himself to speak.

"you're not." he said, his quit voice full of hatred.

"Not what?" Riddle snapped.

"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world." Declared Harry, breathing fast. The young Gryffindor prayed his next lies and fast talking would work. "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you even now, wherever you're hiding these days." Personally Harry didn't think Dumbledore was all that great, not after the _marvelous_ way the man handle this year anyway. Still… nothing like telling a mad man he isn't the best to get him pissed.

It certainly worked as the smile left Riddle's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look. "Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere _memory_ of me!" he hissed.

"He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true. At least if the old man was here then maybe he could have helped. Riddle opened his mouth, but froze.

Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hairs on Harry's scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.

A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.

A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Harry looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and beaky black eyes. The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Harry's cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle.

"That's a phoenix…" Muttered Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.

"Fawkes?" Harry breathed, and he felt the bird's golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently.

"And that – "said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat." So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet. Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddled were laughing at once. "This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?" Riddle's laughter had slowed as he talked but quickly renewed once he finished.

Harry didn't answer. Honestly he felt lost as he looked from Fawkes to the hat and back again. Harry didn't see what use Fawkes or the Sorting Hat were, but at least he wasn't alone anymore. That's gotta count for something, right? He waited for Riddle to stop laughing.

"To business, Harry." Grinned Riddle. "Twice – in _your_ past, in _my_ future – we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. _How did you survive?_ Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly," the longer you live."

Harry was thinking fast, weighing his chances. Riddle had the wand. He, Harry, had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, neither of which would be much good in a fight. It looked bad, all right… but the longer Riddle stood there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny…. In the meantime, Harry noticed suddenly, Riddle's outline was becoming clearer, more solid. If it had to be a fight between him and Riddle, better sooner than later.

"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me." Said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common _Muggle-born_ mother. She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul – "

Riddle's face contorted the longer Harry talked. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So…. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful counter charm. I can see now…. there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parelmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike… but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me, that's all I wanted to know."

Harry stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise his wand. But Riddle's twisted smile was widening again. "Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him…" He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, then he walked away.

Harry, fear spreading up his numbs legs, watched Riddle stop betwwen the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened mouth wide and hissed- but Harry understood what he was saying.

" _Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts four."_

Harry wheeled around to look up at the statue, Fawkes swaying on his shoulder. Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horrorstruck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole. Something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.

Harry backed away until he hit the dark Chamber wall, and as he shut his eyes tight he felt Fawkes' wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. Harry wanted to shout, "Don't leave me!" but what chance did a phoenix have against the king of serpents?

Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Harry felt it shudder- he knew what was happening. He could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice.

" _Kill him."_

The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his way. Voldemort was laughing as Harry tripped. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood; he'd busted his lip. The serpent was barely feet from him, he could hear it coming.

There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above him, and then something heavy hit Harry so hard that he was smashed into the wall. Waiting for the fangs to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, something was thrashing wildly off the pillars. Harry couldn't help it, he opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on.

The enormous serpent, dark, midnight green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Harry trembled, ready to close his eye if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake.

Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers. Fawkes dived suddenly. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing Harry, and before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned. Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eye, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

" _NO!"_ Harry heard Riddle scream. _"LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"_

The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, pipping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.

"Help me, help me," Harry muttered wildly as the snake drew near. "Someone…. Anyone…." The snake's tail whipped across the floor again, heading straight for Harry. _**Get down…**_ , a woman's voice whispered in his mind. Harry ducked just as the tail went over him. Something soft hit his face. Harry quickly pulled it off his face to see what it was.

The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into the Gryffindor's arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only chance to survive this. He rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over him again. _Help me…. Help me…._ Harry thought as his eye screwed tight under the hat. _Please help me…_

There was no voice this time. Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly. Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it. A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

" _KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD ALONE! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! SMELL HIM_!" Riddle roared.

Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillar as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets. Could see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword. It lunged blindly.

Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. The serpent shook its head slightly before it lunged again. It forked tongue lashed Harry's side. _**Get your weapon up, Harry….**_ The woman's voice whispered in his ear. Harry raised the sword in both his hands. The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true. Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth. However, as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching to the floor.

Harry sild down the wall behind him. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. It didn't matter though, Harry knew it was already too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull colors. A patch of scarlet swarm past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him.

"Fawkes…" said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes…. I just wasn't quick enough, I guess." He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent' fang had pierced him. Harry could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of him.

"You're dead, Harry Potter." Called Riddle's voice from above him. His voice sounded so far away to Harry. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

Harry blinked. Fawke's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers. Riddle dropped down to sit directly in front of Harry. Not that the soon-to-be-dead Gryffindor could see him. "I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry." Riddle laughed.

Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning. "So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry… She bought you twelve years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must….."

 _If this is dying,_ Harry thought, _it's not so bad. Would be better if Riddle would just shut up and let me die in peace but overall, not too bad._ Even the pain was leaving him….. Wait _is_ this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears as shinning all around the wound…. Except there _was_ no wound.

"Get away bird!" said Riddle's voice suddenly alarmed. "Get away from him. I said _get away_!" Harry raised his head, Riddle was now standing and pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet. "Phoenix tears…." Riddle whispered, staring at Harry's arm. A round, jagged scar and the hole in his sleeve were the only proof that Harry had been bitten by the King of Snakes. "Of course… healing powers… I forgot…" He looked into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter…. You and me…" Riddle raised the wand. Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap. _The diary_ was now in his lap.

For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. _**Destroy it, Harry! Destroy it, now!**_ The voice roared in Harry's head. Without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book. There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hand, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then… he was gone. Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady dripping of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.

Shaking all over, Harry pulled himself up. His head was spinning as though he'd just traveled miles by Floo powder. Slowly, he gathered together his wand and the Sorting Hat, and with a huge tug, retrieved the glittering sword from the roof of the basilisk's mouth. After getting everything, Harry started to limp towards Ginny's body on the Chamber floor. Now that the action was over, the adrenaline was leaving his body, making Harry finally feel every tumble and hit from the basilisk's tail.

Eventually Harry made it to Ginny. He checked her breathing and heartrate. Once Harry determined that Ginny was alive and her heartbeat was getting stronger, he plotted down on the floor a few feet from her and just laid there exhausted. He laid there looking at the darken ceiling above before he closed his eyes.

"Thank you…. Whoever you are, thank you…" The Gryffindor whispered aloud still with his eyes closed.

 _ **Your welcome, Harry.**_ The woman's voice sounded from right next to him. Harry yelped as he sat up straight, his eyes flying open in surprise. He hadn't excepted anyone to answer him. A soft giggle from his left side had Harry whirling around to see who was there.

There sitting less the two feet from him, was a woman more beautiful than anything Harry had ever seen before. She had deep crimson red hair that flowed down her back freely and sparkling emerald green eyes. Her skin was a light sun-kissed color that spoke of a life enjoying time in the sun. She smiled at him with such warmth and love that Harry wanted her to always smile at him like that. Her whole presence screamed beauty, even her plain red shirt and faded blue skinny jeans looked breathtaking to him. The longer Harry looked at her, the more he couldn't look away. Only, as he stared, a memory came to his mind. A blurry memory of another redhead woman who had looked at him like that once, a long time ago. Without realizing it, Harry opened his mouth.

"Mom…?" He whispered to the woman. Even without her saying anything, Harry knew that this woman was his mother. He could feel it, like the feeling he got with Hermione only better. This woman felt like family in his very soul.

If possible, the woman's smile grew even warmer and more loving. _**Hello, Harry.**_

Now later if asked why he acted as he did, Harry would claim it was stress that made him do it. the stress from meeting an almost alive Riddle, realizing that the girl he was trying to save was responsible for Hermione being Petrified, finding out Riddle was Voldemort, fighting and killing the basilisk, getting poisoned and almost dying _again_ , destroying the diary, and finally seeing his long dead mother sitting in front of him. Harry threw himself at the woman as tears started to form in his eyes. The woman caught him in her arms and held him as he cried. The young Gryffindor kept muttering the word 'mom' without stopping. For a long time, Harry sobbed into her crest as the woman simply sat there and held him.

Eventually, Harry calmed down enough to pull away from her. He looked up into her eyes; eyes that Harry realized looked very much like his own. "You're alive….. How can you be alive?" he asked. There were actually many more questions that he wanted to aske but this was the only one he could get out.

The woman's eyes seemed to get sad for a moment before she spoke. _**I'm afraid I can't tell you right now, Harry. I wish I could but we don't have that kind of time. I promise to tell you what I can soon, but it's a story that someone else has to hear too.**_ Harry looked down as she spoke. He didn't like how it sounded like they weren't going to talk anymore. A gentle touch on Harry's chin made him look back up to meet her eyes again. _**Harry, I didn't mean that we can't talk, just that we can't talk now. You will be leave this place soon and there is still something you have to do before that and there are things I must tell you as well.**_

Harry smiled at that. "Ok, what do I have to do?" He would do anything as long as he got to spend time with his mother for a little while longer. She looked over to the basilisk corpse laying on the Chamber floor.

 _ **Harry, I want you to repeat after me. I claim this kill for the glory and honor of my mother. Say it exactly like I did, ok? It's very important that you do this**_. She said. The basilisk had finally stopped twitching and lay motionless near a par of broken pillars.

Harry stared at the basilisk before looking back at his mother. "Why?"

She ran her hand through Harry's hair gently, making Harry smile and lean into her touch as she spoke. _**You killed a basilisk without any training and with someone else's weapon, and not just any basilisk but one that very well could have been a millennium old. Even fully trained heroes with years of experience wouldn't have dared to challenge one of these creatures. The body of a basilisk is priceless and very valuable as well. By claiming it in my name, I can hold onto the body for you until you are ready to use it. Trust me Harry, one day you will be very glad you kept it.**_

Harry thought about what she said. He didn't know what she was talking about with 'heroes' but he didn't think anyone was stupid enough to fight a basilisk… except him anyway. It made Harry just a little bit proud that he had fought it and won, even if he had been scared stupid during the whole thing. It being valuable and worth come serious coin didn't matter to him because money didn't matter to him. Nevertheless, in the end it was his kill and to the young Gryffindor's surprise that fact mattered to him. Then and there, Harry decided to kept the body. If only to have it as a remind of what he had done.

Looking at the large corpse, Harry spoke with confidence and determination. "I claim this kill for the glory and honor of my mother." The moment he stopped speaking, a pink and red mist surrounded the King of Snakes. Once the mist cleared, the basilisk was gone. Only the large pool of blood on the floor remained on the floor. Harry looked up at his mother again.

She smiled slightly at him before pointing towards the entrance to the Chamber. _**Fawkes will be back for you and the girl soon**_. She leaned down slightly as she put both her hands on Harry's shoulders. Twin pairs of emerald eyes met as she stared steadily into his eyes. _ **Before then I must tell you three things. Do not trust Dumbledore, he is not what he seems. The man has changed much from the young man who always tried to do right. He is still good but even good men can cause tragedy. He will question you on what has happened here, you must not look into his eyes when he does and you must not tell him about me.**_ What she said didn't surprise Harry as much as it should have. For a while now things haven't been adding up in Harry's mind when it coming to the Headmaster. He had shared his concerns with Hermione, hoping she could put them to rest but even she was having doubts. If Dumbledore is so great then why didn't he notice the _second face_ on the back of Quirrell's head? Why did the Headmaster think hiding the Sorcerer's Stone in a school full of children was a good idea? Did the man really believe that that obstacle course of his would protect the Stone, when a group of first years were able to get passed it? and Lockhart? The man was obviously a fake, so why did Dumbledore hire him? Harry had asked Hermione these questions, but she had been unable to answer them or explain them away. Though asking her the one about Lockhart was difficult, it took Harry weeks to get her to see reason about the man. Hermione only kept acting as if he was so great so that the other girls in her dorm didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

 _ **Second, once you get out of here, I want you to find Severus. Find him and ask him this. 'Can a flower bloom in a snake pit?' He will know what it means. When you do, make sure you have Hermione with you.**_ Harry frowned at that. Why would his mother want him to talk to Professor Snape? The man was evil and a Muggleborn hater on top of that. A soft chuckle drew Harry's attention back to his mother. _**I know you don't like him, but this is important. Remember, I told you someone else needed to hear my story?**_ Harry nodded in confusion. _**Well, Severus is that person. I will only tell this tale once and both of you must be there for it.**_

 _ **Lastly, I love you Harry, so very much. I know growing up I wasn't there and you had no one. For that I am truly sorry. Nothing I can do will ever make amends for that, but I need you to know this. I never stopped loving you and if I could have, I would have never left you. You are my son no matter what and I am very proud of the young man you are becoming.**_ She said as she wrapped Harry up in a tight hug. Harry felt more tears building in his eyes as he clung tightly to his mother. She kissed his forehead before pushing him back a little. _**I will see you soon, Harry**_ she smiled before she tapped her fingers on the spot between Harry's eyes. As she did, Harry lost consciousness and she vanished. A second later, Fawkes flow back into the Chamber and grabbed both Harry and Ginny.

 **GgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggG**

Harry sat quickly in the Hospital Wing. He had come from the Headmaster's office. Like his mother told him, Dumbledore questioned Harry on everything that had happened in the Chamber. The young Gryffindor told as much of the truth as he dared, all while staring at the tip of Dumbledore's nose. He told of finding the Chamber and learning that Ginny was behind everything. When Harry said that Ginny was responsible, Dumbledore had responded by saying that it was Riddle who was the real culprit, and that _poor Ginny_ was just as much a victim as the others. This angered Harry greatly. He still held the belief that Ginny was guilty too. The Headmaster stated that Ginny is only a child and couldn't be held responsible and Harry let it drop without further argument, being too tired and pissed to fight when it wasn't going to make a difference.

When Harry mentioned the diary, Dumbledore became very interested but wouldn't tell Harry why the diary was so important, not that Harry expected him too. As Harry told the older man about the basilisk and killing it, he could see the desire in Dumbledore's eyes. The Headmaster had tried to casually ask the condition of the body and if it was possible to get it out of there, for the _safety_ of the other students of course. Harry told him that only a Parselmouth could get to it and as of now that meant only Harry could get to it and he wasn't going to open the Chamber ever again, so it was _safe_ for the other students where it was. Dumbledore wasn't happy about that but he didn't push Harry about it.

Harry did learn that the sword he used was called The Sword of Gryffindor, and that it _supposedly_ belong to the old lion himself. Somehow, it was agreed upon that, the sword belonged to the school and therefor the Headmaster even though the sword came to Harry. Harry didn't complain though, the sword had felt wrong in his hands anyway.

Lucius Malfoy had stormed into the office with Dobby following him, furious that Dumbledore was back. The man only grew more enraged the longer he was there. Honestly, it was hilarious to Harry but then the man left after kicking Dobby though the door, the young Gryffindor could almost hear his mother telling him to help the little elf. Without saying anything, Harry grabbed the destroyed diary off Dumbledore's desk and ran after them. He managed to trick Mr. Malfoy into freeing Dobby with his sock. When the man tried to jump Harry, Dobby intercepted him and proceeded to kick the man's ass before Mr. Malfoy turned tail and ran. Harry gave Dobby as standing ovation for it before telling the elf never to try and save his life again unless he asked for it. Dobby had just grinned like an imp before vanishing.

Now here Harry was sitting by Hermione's bed, waiting for her to wake up. The cure for petrifaction had already been given out and most of the other victim had woken up already. The Weasleys had come through both to check on Hermione and have Ginny looked at. It was a very trying moment for Harry as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thanked him for saving their little girl. Harder still, when Ginny herself had tried to thank him. Only the twins, Fred and George, seemed to realize that Harry didn't want the girl near him. They quickly got Ginny away from him as they wished their bests for Hermione. Eventually the family left and Harry was alone again.

It seemed like hours passed before Hermione started to stir. Slowly she started to move. Her eyes that had been open for months now, closed as she groaned softly. As Hermione moved, Harry could hear her joins pop and her bones crack from being stuck in the same spot for so long. Finally, she opened her eye again and glanced at Harry. It took Hermione a minute for her vision to clear enough and see that it was Harry next to her. Harry could practically see the complex pistons and gears in her head start moving again as her eyes widened.

"Harry! Harry, I know what the monster is! It's a basilisk, we need to…. Why don't you look surprised?" Hermione said as her mind finally finished coming back online. "I've been out a long time, haven't I?" she spoke slowly as she sat up.

Harry grinned at her before moving to sit on the bed and hug his sister in all but blood tightly. "Yeah, Minie, you have been. But it's alright now cause you're awake… You're finally awake…." He mumbled with a thick voice into her shoulder. Hermione hugged him back just as tightly as she wondered what happened to her brother while she wasn't there for him. Harry rarely called her 'Minie' so something big must have happened.

The pair sat there in silence for a while before Madam Pomfrey came to check on Hermione. She was more ten pleased to see Hermione awake and moving. After giving the Gryffindor some potions for the fatigue and stiff muscles, Madam Pomfrey sent the pair on their way to the feast, saying that a good meal will do them both wonders.

As the pair slowly walked towards the Great Hall, Harry filled in Hermione on everything that happened while she was out. They walked more slowly than normal both so Harry could finish tell her everything and because Hermione needed to lean on him to walk. He had just finished explaining what happened in the Chamber of Secrets when they got to the Hall. They stopped right in front of the doors.

Hermione glanced at Harry. "So, what do you what to do? If what you're saying is true, then your mother has been alive all this time. Where could she have been? And why would she want you to tell Professor Snape anything?"

Harry looked at her before turning his attention back to the doors, knowing Snape was on the other side of them. He sighed as he reached for the door handles. "I don't know. What I do know is this is a chance to find out. And even though this is probably a bad idea, I have to know." With that, Harry pulled on the doors to open them. The Hall was filled with students and staff, all celebrating the revival of the petrified students. As Harry lead them into the Hall, Hermione leaned into is ear and whispered.

"If we're gonna do this, then I hope you have a damn good plan, cause I got nothing right now."

Harry whispered jokingly back with a mischievous light to his eyes. "Hermione we're Gryffindors, we don't need plans. All we need is reckless courage and a little luck." The brunette rolled her eyes as she sighed.

Harry grinned at her slightly before he set his face and walked towards the Professors' table. As they made their way closer, the rest of the Hall started noticing them and grew silent. By the time they were standing in front of the table, no one dared make a sound. Harry turned his gaze to Snape and looked him straight into his eyes. Students around the Hall gasped as he did this, it was common knowledge that you didn't look Professor Snape in the eyes. Rumor was that if you did, Snape could steal your soul before you even realized it. Even the Slytherins didn't look the man in the eye. Slowly Snape stood up from the table as he scowled at Harry.

"Is there something you need Potter, or do you just enjoy being in the limelight some much that you feel the need to cause a scene during dinner." Snape spat at him. Slytherin table irrupted into quiet laughter but stopped when they saw Harry grin slightly at the Professor.

"No, sir. Nothing like that, me and Hermione just have a question for you, Sir." Harry said as Hermione got noticeable paler. She shot Harry a look that clearly said _'Don't get us killed, Potter.'_ He ignored her as he kept his eyes trained on Snape.

The Professor's eyebrow slowly rose before he spoke. "What pitifully stupid question could you have that you feel needs to be asked now?" McGonagall glared at the man for that one. She may not be able to stop him from insulting her lions but that didn't mean she had to like it. She glanced at Dumbledore, hoping he would stop this but he was acting like none of this was happening.

"We just wanted to ask you this. Can a flower bloom in a snake pit?" Harry asked as causally as he could. Harry and a few others in the Hall watched as Snape freeze up. Every muscle locked in place and in that moment, Snape could have easily passed for a statue. The freeze was only for a moment, but it was enough. The rage and sadness in the man's eyes could have broken even the strongest soul.

"Detention the both of you tonight after the feat, for wasting my time with a pointless question. I don't know what new brand of madness you have today Potter, but I suggest you keep it to yourself." Snape all but snarled at them before he stormed out of the Hall with his robes bellowing out behind him. The Hall was in stunned silence after his departure. No one had even made Snape retreat before.

Slowly the noise came back to the Hall. Harry and Hermione stood there looking at each other before they both shrugged and headed towards the Gryffindor table. One thing was for sure though. For the first time in either of their lives, Harry and Hermione were looking forward to detention.

 **GggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggG**

Once the feast was over, Harry and Hermione made their way to Snape's classroom. Fellow Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and even a few Ravenclaws wished them luck in facing Snape. When they got to the room, they didn't even have a chance to nock before the door was thrown open and they were pulled inside.

While they tried to regain their ability to stand up, Snape was working like a man possessed. He casted charm after charm on the room, insuring that no one could spy on the room. The only ones to know what was about to happen would be the three people in the very room. Satisfied with his work, Snape whirled around on the two Gryffindors. He grabbed Harry by his throat and slammed the boy into the now sealed door.

"Where did you hear that question, Potter? Someone told you to say that, didn't they? WHO? WHO TOLD YOU THOSE WORDS?! ANSWER ME BOY!" Snape roared in Harry's face. With each question, the man tightens his grip on Harry's throat. Hermione had grabbed Snape's arm and was trying to get him to let go of him, only Snape wasn't moving. She was screaming at him, but he couldn't hear her. All Snape hear was that question, a question that had more meaning then those eight words could ever give it. A question he hadn't heard in a very long time. Harry was starting to black out, he couldn't breath and he knew that if something didn't happen soon then he very well might die. Fun how he survived Riddle and the basilisk only to be killed by an evil schoolteacher. Snape opened his mouth to roar again, when it happened.

 _ **I told him Sevy.**_ Said a woman's voice from behind the dark Professor. At the sound of that _painfully_ familiar voice, Snape dropped Harry and slowly turned around. There she was, leaning back against his desk. She hadn't aged a day since the last time Severus saw her. Beautiful scarlet hair, soulful green eyes and a smile that could stop the sun in its track and cause world peace even if only for a moment.

"Lily." Snape spoke her name with such reverence and awe; it was like he was saying the one word for every special thing in the world. Harry and Hermione were both floored by the emotion in that word. Once Harry got off the floor, they both stare at the woman in front of them. To Harry she looked the exact same as she did in the Chamber, right down to the shirt and jeans. Hermione on the other hand…

"Harry, I thought your mom's supposed to be a redhead? She's blonde…" Hermione whispered, or thought she whispered. Both Adults and Harry turned to look at her. Hermione blushed and looked at the ground as Lily laughed lightly and both males looked confused and lost.

 _ **Well, that answers that question. Don't worry, I will explain everything I can, but at least now I have a place to start.**_ Lily gestured to the desks around her. Harry and Hermione sat at a desk in front of her while Snape chose to sit next to her on his desk. She smiled at him slightly before turning to and looking at the group as a whole. _**Before I start, you all have now doubt noticed that I am different from you.**_ Her eyes land on Hermione. _**Hermione here sees me with blonde hair yet both Harry and Severus see red hair when they look at me.**_ She smiles at Harry next. _**Harry sees me wearing a red shirt and jeans but Sevy can't take his eyes of the white summer dress I'm wearing.**_ As she finished she grinned at Snape. The man blushed, which honestly scared Harry and Hermione more than when he just tried to kill Harry.

Lily laughed again before she continued. _ **I'm not like you. You all are human… mortal. I am neither of these things.**_ She looked around the room at the three blank stares she was getting. Sighing she rubbed a hand over her eyes. _**Ok.. How about this? What do any of you know about the Gods? Like the Greek Gods?**_ Again, she got blank stares before Hermione suddenly gasped. Figures the resident bookworm would figure it out first.

"You can't be serious… you expect us to believe you're a god?" Hermione asked, the disbelief was strong in her voice.

Lily shrugged. _**Goddess**_ _ **actually, but yes. If you want to get technical about it, I'm Aphrodite Greek goddess of love and beauty, but that's not the point right now.**_

"Impossible, gods don't exist." Hermione said. Harry was trying to get her attention and failing at it. He was trying to tell her something important. If she's really a goddess, do you want to piss her off?

Lily merely raised an eyebrow at Hermione. _ **You go to a school for**_ _ **magic**_ _ **. Two years ago, you**_ _ **didn't**_ _ **believe magic even**_ _ **existed**_ _ **. You're friends with a man who's**_ _ **half giant**_ _ **, last year you helped sneak a**_ _ **baby dragon**_ _ **off campus, your Headmaster has a**_ _ **Phoenix**_ _ **for a pet, and just a few hours ago your brother, my**_ _ **son**_ _ **fought and killed a millennium old**_ _ **Basilisk**_ _ **. Are you really going to sit here and tell a**_ _ **goddess**_ _ **that Gods don't exist?**_

The room was silent as Hermione processed that one. Finally, she looked at the woman who may or may not be a goddess and shrugged. "Point taken, please continue."

Lily smirked at the girl before she continued. _**As I was saying, I'm a goddess. I have been known by many names but most know me as Aphrodite. You can still call me Lily if it makes you more comfortable. I have been the goddess of love and beauty for longer then I care to admit.**_ She stopped at she saw Harry look sadly ay his desk. _**Harry?**_

He looked up at her with the look of a kicked puppy. "Does that mean you aren't really my mom?" he asked fearing the answer. Lily quickly dropped down from Snape's desk and moved over to the boy.

Once there, she leaned over the desk and held his head in her hands as she pressed their foreheads together. She looked him straight in the eyes so he could see the truth in them. _**No Harry, I am your mother. I was your mother when I bore you into this world and I will be your mother when the fiery man takes you across the River Styx. Being a goddess doesn't change that.**_ After saying her piece, the Goddess of Love smiled at her son. Harry slowly smiled back. In that moment both Hermione and Snape were struck by how alike their smiles were.

"So why is your hair blonde to me but red to them?" Hermione asked, trying to get the conversation away from the emotional moment. Harry glanced at her in thanks as he leaned away from his mother's touch.

Lily turned to look at Hermione with an almost evil grin growing on her face. Suddenly Hermione didn't what to know why her hair was blonde, not at _all_. _**As the Goddess of Beauty, a person will see whatever they think is beautiful when they look at me. Well, everyone but my children anyway. When they look at me, they see whatever I looked like when I was their mother. To Harry I look like I did as Lilly because I was Lily when I had him. Severus also sees me as Lily because to him Lily was the most beautiful woman in the world.**_ Both Harry and Hermione turned to Snape just in time to see him blush and turn away. Neither Gryffindor could believe just how human the man seemed when in the presence of Lily. Hermione was starting to suspect something was going on between the Professor and the Goddess but didn't say anything. As for Harry, well the saying _'If you don't want to see it, then you won't see it'_ was going strong.

"So, I see you as a blonde because I like blonde hair?" Hermione asked uncertainly. She didn't know any blondes that she liked their hair that much.

The goddess kept grinning at her. _**Yes, but that's not the really interesting part.**_ Hermione looked confused, as did Harry. Snape was still trying to get his blush under control. _ **The interesting part is that you still see me as female. Which means…..**_ It took both Gryffindors a moment before they figured out what she was saying. Harry looked at Hermione in shock before a slow teasing grin started to appear on his face.

Hermione just stared at Aphrodite in shock before she held her hand up in front of Harry's face, stopping him from making a comment. "No. Just no. Harry don't say anything." Harry still grinned at her. Hermione kept her eyes on the suddenly evil woman before her. "You're a goddess; of coarse you're a woman. This doesn't mean a thing." She declared.

The goddess' grin became a sympathetic smile. _**Sorry hun, but that's not how it works. A person sees what they like when they look at me. Whether that's a man, woman, animal or something else entirely is up to them. You see a blonde woman when you look at me, that means you like blonde women.**_

Hermione sighed as Harry opened his mouth. "Harry, if you say _anything_ right now, I _will_ make myself an _only_ child." Harry quickly shut his mouth and smiled sweetly at her. She glared playfully back at him. Lily laughed at their exchange and even Snape smirked a little.

 _ **Not that this isn't fun but I'm afraid we don't have much more time for goofing around.**_ Aphrodite moved so she could look at the three of them easily. _**Trouble is coming and like it or not you are right in the middle of it Harry**_. Snape and Hermione glanced at Harry before turning their attention back to the goddess. _**Unfortunately, I can't tell you what is coming or even when. What I can tell you is how this started. I can tell you how your part in the mess came to be. Your part in this all started from one man's lust and greed. This is why I wanted Severus here when I tell you. If things had gone the way they were supposed to then you very well could have grown up calling Severus 'Dad'.**_ Harry and Snape looked shock and confused as they turned to each other. Both thinking very different thoughts about what they have learned.

Harry was at a loss. This angry, spiteful and vindictive man could have been his father? No there was no way that could've happened. Still he wondered how his mother thought such a thing. She loved his father, James Potter, so how could Snape ever have been his father?

Snape looked at Potter, at Harry. He looked at the boy that Lily said was supposed to be _his_ son. His, not James Potter's, but his. He tried to picture a boy that looked like himself but with Lily's eyes. A boy that would have loved potions instead of Quidditch. The thought was painful with how much he wanted that. Now more than anything, Severus wanted to know what Lily had to say. Anything to make sense of the notion that Harry _Potter_ could have been Harry _Snape_ instead.

Seeing the looks in the two males' eyes hurt Aphrodite deeply. As Lily, this boy and this man had meant the world to her and looking at them now, Aphrodite could see the life that they should have had. A life that was stolen from them without them even realizing it. She cleared her throat to get their attention again before she continued. _**The story I tell is true, no matter how hard it may be to believe. Now don't interrupt as I tell you the tale of Lily Evens.**_

 **GgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggG**

 **And I'm done! It's not the greatest thing in the world but that's ok.**

 **Sorry if Harry seems bipolar or something. I promise he'll level out as the story goes on.**

 **Review if you want, if not it won't hurt my feelings. Your wants and desires for the story just won't happen that's all.**


End file.
